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Rory Stewart Strikes Again
2007-10-12 07:49:00 October 12, 2007. In an interview with The Canadian Press Rory Stewart expressed his pessimism about the Afghanistan mission and urged Canada to reconsider its “dishonest” approach. Photo: Rory Stewart, lost in contemplation. Feel free to read the quick article I linked to now. Then read his bio. And then read my hopefully coherent comments in regards to Stewart’s arguments below. “NATO has bitten off far more than it can chew in Afghanistan while expounding a “strange, dishonest rhetoric” that overstates progress as much as it builds false hope, says former British diplomat and best-selling author Rory Stewart.” Bitten off more than it can chew? False hope? If Stewart thinks Afghanistan is doomed then he should quit running his generously funded NGO in Kabul and flee the country. Canada should help lead a major refocus on parts of the country, namely in the north, that actually support democratic reform and development, he says. So Pashtun...
By: Afghanistanica
Rory Stewart’s Damn Afghan Dam
2007-04-01 22:18:00 April 1, 2007. Rory Stewart is a fine chap. A good bloke. He’s good people. But that being said……what in God’s name is he writing about in the New York Times/International HT? Joshua Foust at Registan has already talked about the article here. As has Carl Robichaud. My problem with Stewart’s article has several aspects, which I won’t bore you with. But my jaw dropped when I saw an anecdote in Stewart’s article that Robichaud referred to as an ‘edifice complex.’ “Afghans are bored with foreign consultants and conferences and are saying, ‘Bring back the Russians: at least they built dams and roads.” To win them over we should focus on large, highly visible infrastructure to which Afghans will be able to point in 50 years — just as they point to the great dam built by the United States in the 1960s.” Wow! Look at that progress! Man conquering nature! But was/is this dam benef...
By: Afghanistanica
Rory Stewart - The Places in Between
2006-12-23 15:28:03 From O, The Oprah Magazine : Ellen Pompeo’s Bookshelf, January 2007 The Places in Between by Rory Stewart In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers’ floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan’s first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following. Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible ...
By: Oprah Selects
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